


Roasted Water Chestnuts, 2 coppers a batch!

by clockwork_spider



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Confrontations, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 02:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14178339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockwork_spider/pseuds/clockwork_spider
Summary: Kija and Soowon meet by chance. They talk about views on prophecy and kings.





	Roasted Water Chestnuts, 2 coppers a batch!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EHyde](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHyde/gifts).



“No, you can't touch my hand,” Kija said. He hid his enormous hand behind his back and glared, completely unaware of how silly he looked. 

“Haha… sorry. I won't this time, I promise.” Soowon chuckled. The dragon reminded him of a wet cat. 

Kija kept glaring. He remembered being caught off-guard last time. 

There was an awkward pause as they just stared at one another. 

“Well,” it was Soowon who broke the silence, “the water chestnuts in this region is quite a specialty, have you tried any?” 

Kija blinked.

“What?” 

“Do you want some?” Soowon asked, offering his paper bag to Kija. 

Kija stared at Soowon, open mouthed, too baffled to respond. Why was this man, Yona’s enemy, offering him water chestnuts? 

Impulsively, Soowon wondered if he could just stuff a roasted chestnut into the open mouth. 

So he did just that. 

The dragon ate the chestnut with a confused blink and chewed. His eyes widened. 

“This is good!” He exclaimed. _Adorable._

“Right?” Soowon smiled, and prepared to feed the dragon another. _This is fun._

Kija, however, came to his senses. He reeled away eight steps as if seeing a bug. 

“What are you doing?!?” 

Soowon just shrugged as if it wasn't awkward at all and offered the paper bag forward. 

“No!” At this point, Kija could feel his head threatening to explode. _What is happening? Why am I being fed chestnut?_

“Suit yourself,” the king shrugged, “well, if you would excuse me, I should get going.” 

“Wait!” He was leaving? He couldn’t just _leave_ after feeding Kija chestnuts. 

“Hm?” Soowon turned back to him, raising an eyebrow. 

“You said that you don't wish to be king. So why?” Kija asked the question that had been on his mind since the past encounter. He needed to know. He needed to understand why this man, who carried the same presence as Yona, would hurt Yona and Hak.

Soowon stared at him with an unnervingly impassive expression. Kija frowned, he felt like he was being studied. 

“There are things that Kouka needs as a nation,” said Soowon, “the tribes were divided, the borders weak, and our regions were plagued with corruptions. The fire tribe continuously militarized for the fear of invasion, yet did not have any opportunity to defend their borders. The previous king gave away lands to please our neighbors, but refused to acknowledge the problems within his own realm.”

All those matters meant nothing to Kija not too long ago, but after his travels with Yona and Yoon, he understood. 

“Yona is the reincarnation of King Hiryuu, she is the king of the prophecy.” He said, because some things are absolute, like prophecy, and destiny. And Soowon, a mere human, should know his place. It was arrogant of him to think that he could fix the country that belonged to Hiryuu. 

“And a country cannot be fixed through prophecy alone,” Soowon answered. 

“You don't know how many things Yona has done for Kouka,” Kija found his voice rising, “She found the Iza seeds, she asked us to save you from Kai even after you… She rode for days to ensure there is peace with Xing.” Because it was true. And while Yona didn’t do it for acknowledgement, she did those things, and Kija wished that people could… that Soowon could just _see_... 

“I know,” Soowon acknowledged calmly. 

Kija blinked. 

“Then she should…”

“Yona is amazing,” Soowon laughed a little. His expression half wistful and half wonder. “I don’t doubt she would make a good ruler someday. But I already started on this path, and I don't intend to stop until Kouka regains its strength.” 

He paused, and something about his eyes sharpened. 

“The things she did,” he asked, “did she receive any help from heaven?” 

“She…” Kija frowned, “No. We… the dragons, we were by her side…” 

“And did you help her because of the prophecy?” Soowon asked. Kija could feel this conversation being lead, and he didn’t know where. 

_Yes,_ he wanted to answer. Because he was a dragon warrior and Yona was Hiryuu, and he’d do anything for his master. But it didn’t feel like the right answer. When they were at the fire tribe village, he wanted to help the villagers, he liked seeing the kids smile when they had food. Yona wanted to make them feel safe, and he wanted that as well. When he saved the women from the slavers, it felt good. It felt right. 

He wanted to make those people happy. He liked making people happy. Yona allowed him to do those things. Yona wanted the same things he did. 

“I am helping her because she is Hiryuu,” Kija answered, “because she is someone who loves people, and cares deeply for everyone. And that is the King I trust.” 

“And would you have helped her if she wasn’t Hiryuu?” 

Kija frowned, “but she is Hiryuu, so it doesn’t matter.” 

“And if Hiryuu isn’t Yona, if Hiryuu is someone cruel?” Soowon asked, unrelenting. 

“Yona isn’t cruel. And that’s what matters.” 

Soowon could see that the white dragon was right. It was a hypothetical question that posed no meaning in their world. The Dragon Warrior didn’t have to choose between his loyalty to Yona and Kouka. It wasn’t a dichotomy he had to concern himself over. 

“Do you love Kouka, Mr. White Dragon?” 

“I…” Kouka was a country, it was Hiryuu’s country, yet Kija had never had much thought on it. It was so abstract. But he thought of the people they’d met along the way, and he supposed he loved them. “I love people.” 

Soowon stared at the white dragon warrior, he could tell the answer was genuine. He almost envied the man. “I love people too,” he said, and still believed in it, still tried. 

There was conviction in those words, and the look on Soowon’s face was familiar to Kija. Yona has had the same look in her eyes. And some traitorous part of Kija’s brain thought, in another life, he’d follow this man. 

“What's your name, Mr. White Dragon?” Soowon asked. 

“Why would I tell you?”

“My name is Soowon.”

“I know that!”

Soowon just stared at him expectantly. 

“It’s Kija,” Kija answered. 

“It’s nice meeting you, Kija,” Soowon said with a smile. 

“Yeah,” Kija answered. 

“Well, I should get going now,” Soowon waved, and left. 

In Kija’s palm laid a bag of water chestnuts. 

They tasted sweet. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy early birthday Ehyde!


End file.
